Direct TV users...

DDD

Well-Known Member
We have had the same cable company forever. It "seems" as though we would save $$'s by considering a change. on the other hand I hear people who rue the service they have gotten after a change and it seems like alot of people feel duped by signing up during special sales and finding out later the contract they signed has a bunch of clauses that result in price increases they don't expect.

SO...since we are beyond challenged in this area I thought I'd reach out to the Board experts and see if there is any advice that might protect us "if" we decide to try it. Thanks.DDD
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Never had an issue with them. Far far far better than Time Warner.

And if you can find enough people to use as referrals............you get 10 bucks off your bill for each person who refers you AND they get ten bucks off their bill for referring you. You just need their acct number (so it can be credited) This referral discount last 12 months..........and it's great. You can also do it for a number of people in the future once that 12 months has passed and do it again. Both of you get a discount.

I probably didn't explain that so well. lol

Travis nearly choked when our discounts hit the 12 month mark and it went back to the normal bill. I think he thought it was gonna be a forever thing. lol But still a much better deal than Dish or TW and we have had no issue with them whatsoever. Can't say that for the other two.
 

muttmeister

Well-Known Member
I have DirecTV; basically the only two choices I have are that and Dish Network as I live in a town so small there is no cable service. Mainly I'm satisfied. We do sometimes lose the signal during a bad storm but then you probably shouldn't be watching TV then anyway. And when we have tons of snow I have been known to stick a broom out my upstairs bathroom window to brush the snow off of the dish. You do get a special rate to start and extra channels for free. If you don't cancel the free channels when the special runs out, they start charging you but that is just one of those things. And the rate does go up once the introductory offer runs out but they are still priced about the same as anybody else. And they have many levels to choose from at different prices so you can pick the one that is best for you. Actually I've been thinking of changing to Dish Network as they have a local installer and troubleshooter and if I have trouble with my DirecTV the nearest office is about 130 miles away but I've never had to call them so maybe it doesnt' matter. I think I am rambling - main idea: I have DirectTV and I am satisfied.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I've had DirecTV since way back when it was still Primestar and have had almost no problems with it at all. The few times I've needed service they came very quickly, were extremely courteous, and did a good job. The prices depend on the package you choose and they seem to have a lot of good deals for new customers. Not cheap but very good and reliable. Of course, like any satellite TV, it will occasionally go out for a few minutes if a bad storm is coming but they all do that. My son and his roommate got Dish Network which was a little cheaper but they were very disappointed in it. They never did get all the hookups they were paying for and were never able to get the local channels on the satellite so they had no local news or weather.

One little hint: If you have a choice between buying or leasing your equipment, always choose to LEASE it! It costs only a few dollars a month. S**t happens, and if you're leasing it, repairs are free. If you own the equipment, YOU pay for repairs. At my old house a big tree limb fell on the dish during a storm and damaged it ... cost me nothing to have it replaced. And at the house I'm in now, an old window AC unit fell out of the kitchen window and hit the dish that was right below the window. They were here the next day, replaced the whole dish, and it didn't cost me a dime!
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
I love my DirecTv because it comes with a real TiVo if that is what you want. I like the search capabilities of TiVo better than any other box. If I'm watching a movie and I like a character who is just a character actor, TiVo gives me enough information to figure out who that is. From there I can keep a permanent search going for anything that actor is ever in, and run it each week. From there I can record (or not) anything that they're in. You never lose the search list.

In so far as "deals" go, we got a $40 a month off for one year when we joined, and that just ended. I called them up and told them I would have to cancel, and they got me to a "retention specialist". They took $18 a month off my bill "just because", sent me boxes to send back equipment we weren't using, and modified our subscription to get rid of channels we aren't using. I've saved about $60 a month doing that, so I'm happy.

I'll PM you my account number so that you can use it for us both to get a discount if you decide that's what you want to go with.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
The enticing special is $ 24,95 a month with the new state of the art tivo..for four televisions. We do pay scads more for "cable" BUT locally what I'm hearing is that (1) the consumer is responsible for notifying them when the "specials" are over that the consumer no longer wants the additional services. That may be a big problem because husband and I are both aging rapidly. (2) They mail alot of modification notices and the consumer is, again, responsible for bowing out of the options. SO it appears that if you sign a contract for #24.95 a month with a zillion channels etc. that the responsibility rests on YOU to avoid circumstances that would/could boost your monthly fee "way up".

Even though we are paying a whole heck of alot more for cable...we don't have to worry about unexpected changes. I'm still mulling it over. At the moment it seems that "poor people" and "old people" may be vulnerable. Lordy...we are almost both, very sad to say! DDD

PS: I get alot of compliments on the Board for being supportive but ALAS you guys provide info and support for me that I don't get from my six children. Thanks!
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
" BUT locally what I'm hearing is that (1) the consumer is responsible for notifying them when the "specials" are over that the consumer no longer wants the additional services.

Just put it on your calendar to cancel it. If it gets past the date and you cancel, they refund you the next month so you still come out ok.

I've never had to opt out of anything. That's against Federal law.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
DDD

I get my kids to remind me. Travis is really good about it. (helps that that is a bill he pays lol )

Writing it on the calendar helps too.

We don't have to "opt out" of anything. Nothing is "added" to our service. Oh, we get stuff in the mail in case we want to ad to it.........but we have the very basic set up and it's been that way since our initial special ran out 3 months after we started.

Perhaps it will be easier for you to understand how the specials work if you go in and actually talk to a real person? That is how I have to do it. Then I write that person's name down and keep it......because I've been bit in the backside too often from cable.
 

PatriotsGirl

Well-Known Member
I had a very bad experience with them. I had them for years! We "leased" the equipment (didn't know paying two hundred bucks was a "lease"). When I got sick of not having TV when it stormed out and switched to cable, I called to end service. Instead of just doing as I asked, they kept trying to talk me out of it. I told then I already had the cable and please just end the account. I didn't hear anything for a couple of months and then woke up one day to 800 dollars taken from my bank account!! Turns out they didn't end my service and so I wasn't paying the bill. They took out of my bank account the "value" of their equipment until I sent it back to them. A couple of days LATER they sent the boxes to my house to pack the equipment.
If you Google it, you will see that is a normal process for them. No thank you. I refuse to do business with a company that would do such a thing. I filed a complaint with my bank and won.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
PG I had that issue with both TW and Dish. I won't do direct pay from a bank account on anything ever again due to it.

TW tried to say we "stole" their equipment. I laughed at them. I walked it into their office and got a receipt for it. They also tried to charge us for the "last month bill". Uh, no. TW charges in advance. I reminded them of this, they didn't like it but had to remove the charges and close the account. Ours gets really snippy when you try to dump them. Too long as the only service in the area gave them quite the attitude issue. And our TW cable went out more often than satellite, not even due to storms. ugh

Dish.........well, it's simple. Their prices got too high while their channels stunk. Their dish is still outside my home. They can come dismantle it out of the concrete slab they put it in if they want it bad enough, I'm certainly not going to do it......I was majorly peeved when they put it in like that to begin with! They stopped harping about it. We only had them because of bundling......which I'll never do again either. That was a mess and a half to get out of.

Service for any of these things is going to vary depending on where you live and who is running it. Which is why it would be a good idea to go in person to talk with whomever you're wanting to switch to in advance.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I have had all 3 and I wish I could get something else entirely...lol. I just dont think there is anything we are going to be completely satisfied with to be honest. I actually like my cable if it wasnt so much money and if some of the channels actually worked all the time in all the levels. I evidently get three tiers - the basic tier which is analog I think, then I get the digital tier then the HD tier. Of course I have that whole mess of songs and sports junk along with pay per view that I never use. They could just take that off my TV. The one thing I love about TW is Primetime on Demand and Lookback. I also have DVR on two TV's. One thing I dont like is that I cant watch TW on my computer, tablet or phone even with my app outside the house like you can do with Dish. I mean really, I have three TV's in my house, why do I need to watch TV on my phone in my house? LOL.

Now Dish did to me what DirectTV did to PG. I was using Dish when TimeWarner finally came down our road. We had never been able to get high speed internet before so we signed up with them that December and I called Dish to tell them to stop my service ending the last day of November. One started 12/1 and the other stopped 11/30...or supposedly. I would have no way to know because when they put the cable boxes in, all the other coax cable was removed. Now Dish didnt have to come get my stuff because I owned my stuff. They charged me for two more months.

I will probably stick with TW because I need them for internet and even if I went back to satellite, after the bargain rates, it would be about the same thing and satellite goes out during storms. I have never had that happen with TW. Plus TW finally got Redzone so it has that going for them.
 

PatriotsGirl

Well-Known Member
That is the kicker - I never let them pull money from my account. I paid my bill every month and they used that payment information to take the 800. Oh and I still have a big ugly dish on my house because they won't take THAT...hate Directv!!
 

busywend

Well-Known Member
DDD, we have DishTv. When we got married husband had Dish and I had TW. We signed up for DIsh at my house under my name and got all the introductory offers available at the time.
I signed up for an account online and found there I could see my detailed bill, the expiration date for my promotions, my free movie codes and more. This is where I would go to check on my expiration date so I did not get billed for services I was not willing to pay more for. In fact, some of these you can cancel the day after you start the service so you do not have to remember to do it 6 months later. And you do not get hooked on the channel and become willing to pay full price for it.
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
The best advice I can give for "special offers" that only last for a limited time is to have your calendar open on your computer when you order the service. Ask what date the offer will end, and put a reminder on your calendar that has an alarm one week in advance on it. It will pop up when you open your calendar and you call them and tell them to change it. Easy-peasy.

I will absolutely NEVER allow direct payment on ANYTHING, but especially not cable or internet. That is where they get you on the "special packages" that end. You're generally paying in advance for service, so when you don't have auto-pay and the bill comes in the mail for more than you thought you just call them and tell them to change it. But the best way to avoid that is to just put the alarm on your calendar and call them in advance.
 
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